Kickoff times set for Tech’s first three 2018 football games

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference confirmed Friday the kickoff times for Virginia Tech’s first three games of the 2018 football season.

As was previously announced, Virginia Tech’s opening football game of the 2018 season will take place at Florida State on Sept. 3 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. ESPN will televise the contest to a national audience in prime time on Labor Day Monday Night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Hokies will host a Thursday night prime time matchup with Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 25. The contest will be televised to a national audience by ESPN. Since the inception of ESPN’s Thursday Night Football package in 1991, the Hokies are 23-9 (.719) in such games. Those 32 Thursday night appearances are the most of any FBS program. The Hokies are a perfect 6-0 on Thursday Night Football against Georgia Tech.

Tech opens its 2018 home schedule against William & Mary on Saturday, Sept. 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Lane Stadiumwith the game slated to be televised by ACC Network Extra. The contest will mark the 64th all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since Tech registered a 34-9 victory in Blacksburg in 2014.

Tech will then welcome East Carolina back to Lane Stadium on Sept. 15. That game will kick off at 12:20 p.m. ET and will be telecast by ACC Network. The ECU game will also serve as this season’s White Effect & Military Appreciation Game. The Hokies are 2-0 against the Pirates under head coach Justin Fuente, outscoring the Pirates by a 118-34 margin, including a 54-17 victory in Lane Stadium in 2016.

In addition to opening the season at Florida State, the Hokies will host Notre Dame at Lane Stadium for the inaugural time as the Fighting Irish make their initial appearance in Blacksburg on Oct. 6. ACC home opponents for Tech in 2018 include Virginia, Miami, Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Hokies will also travel to face ACC foes Duke, North Carolina and Pittsburgh.

Fuente enters his third season as head coach at Virginia Tech after leading the Hokies to their second consecutive season with nine-plus victories. The 2016 ACC Coach of the Year, Fuente is one of only six FBS head coaches whose teams have eclipsed nine or more wins over the past four seasons, joining Nick Saban (Alabama), Bryan Harsin (Boise State), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Urban Meyer (Ohio State) and Mark Richt (Miami). Fuente’s 19 wins in his first two seasons in Blacksburg are a program record.

The Hokies enter the 2018 season seeking to extend a streak of 25 straight bowl appearances – the longest active streak recognized by the NCAA. The Hokies finished the 2017 season ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25, marking the first time since 2010 and 2011 that Tech has finished in the final AP poll in back-to-back seasons. The Hokies were also ranked in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, checking in at No. 25.